To promote the employability in academia and industry, the emphasis in the Summer School 2013 lay on the promotion of key competences. In the preparation of the Summer School, the Ph.D. candidates were asked to express their preferences for specific topics, in order to have the summer school meet their needs as closely as possible. The resulting program allowed the participants to choose from two different three-day workshops, one on business management and the other on scientific writing. In addition, a one-day national or international job application training and simulated job interviews with industry representatives (so called mock interviews) were offered during the two remaining days.

To further promote team spirit in the group and the capability to confront foreign and sudden situations, the Ph.D. candidates solved a fictional crime case on one evening.